As the season begins to wind down I thought I’d throw out some “food
for thought” for all of you goalies out there. So for your reading
pleasure here are some observations and thoughts about various
goaltending topics:

1. Cookie Cutter Goaltenders

Although some goalie coaches may disagree, I believe that there are
many ways to play goal. Every few years there may be a style change
that becomes all the rage. For example, a few years ago “blockage”
was really in. The perfect goalie was like the tabletop hockey game
model where he or she moves in one solid block so the puck couldn’t
find holes. At that point in time, the NHL was a boring, trapping
style with little open ice or creativity so the goalies could simply
“get in the way”. Since the NHL strike ended and the game was opened
up with new rules, simply playing a “blockage” style is not
realistic. With the speed of the game comes the need for mobile
saves, some of which were considered passé (stacks of the pads for
example). Most travel, high school, college or adult leagues are
more on the wide open style as well so the way goalies have adapted
in the NHL is certainly applicable to other levels of hockey.

Don’t try to force yourself to play one certain style and be careful
about totally emulating your favorite NHL goalie. When it comes to
playing goal it’s more important to just be yourself. How can you
become the best “you” that you can be? Personally, I believe you
should first of all improve what you are weak at skill-wise and then
assess how well you read plays during games and practices. If you
are able to utilize a handful of different save techniques when
facing a scoring play, I think that will make you a difficult goalie
to beat. Most goalies are creatures of habit that become somewhat
predictable if you see them more than once or twice. My belief is
that if you can break up a one-on-one, two-on-one, three-on-two or
breakaway by pulling out a move from your bag of tricks that is good
for that exact situation you’re facing, you will be hard to figure
out. If you use the same exact move against every one-on-one,
opposing teams will find you very easy to figure out.

A couple of creative NHL goalies are old dogs Marty Brodeur and
Dominic Hasek. Both goalies can play traditionally on some plays and
creatively unorthodox on others. There always is a method to their
madness because they are blessed with the ability to quickly read a
play and instinctively go to their bag of tricks without thinking
much about it. For goalies that simply want to drop into the paddle
down on every shot, be aware of the gap you have. Paddle down is
more effective when you can explode into the puck at closer range.
Paddle down is a “blockage” type save that can be set up with a
mobile push off your back skate. Blockage is effective on close
plays and mobile athleticism is key on other types of plays. How
well you can display your hockey sense and pressure other teams with
appropriate decisions against an approaching play will determine how
successful you are. Mindlessly following a fad without understanding
why you are using certain moves will result in failure.

2. Are You A Puck Receptacle or a Goalie?

Often times when I am hired to teach goalies I have to change how
they look at the position of goaltender. Watch many practices at
your local rink and you will see goalies who are hanging out waiting
for shots. What’s wrong with that you ask? Well, if all you’re doing
is sitting flat-footed in the crease waiting for pucks to be shot at
you, you are losing some great opportunities to make your saves
easier once the shot is taken. I have always said that I wish there
was a goaltending statistic that we could call “forced offensive
errors”. Shots on goal are an important hockey statistic. A great
goalie may force the opposition into missed scoring opportunities
because of angles, pokechecks, pass blocks or smooth breakouts.
However, these “forced errors” don’t show up in the shots on goal or
save percentage statistics.

I try to teach goalies the importance of taking away space as well
as reading the shooting and passing options of the opposing team.
Examples of great space awareness could be after a goalie makes a
save, but the rebound deflects into scoring position. Most goalies
stay flat-footed and wait until the opponent gets to the puck, turns
and fires. A smarter goalie will move closer to the rebound while
the shooter is not looking via skating or a butterfly or paddle-down
push. By moving a foot or so closer to the puck, the goalie narrows
the scoring gap so the save will be easier to make. Another example
is when a smart goalie moves with a cross-ice pass before it gets to
the recipient’s stick. By moving with the pass, the smart goalie is
already in the shooting lane when the shot is taken. The lazy goalie
waits for the pass to be received and then tries to make the save.
The lazy goalie has more room to cover because he is not already set
in the scoring lane. Another example of great special awareness is
on a power play. When the goalie’s team is man-down, the smart
goalie keeps making short step-outs into seams around the crease to
take away back door passes or to stay ahead of opponents who are
behind him.

Smart positioning and moving to space before the shot is taken means
the goalie has great hockey Sense and does not simply wait for the
obvious visual cue of a shot. Goalies that just wait for shots are
puck receptacle.

Why is knowing which way the opposing players shoot important? If
you are able to see which way the rushing opponents shoot you can
determine passing lanes and the options they will have when they get
closer to the net. For example, if you have a two on one approaching
and the puckcarrier is on the right side, you can read the play like
so: If the puckcarrier on the right side is a lefty and his linemate
coming down the slot without the puck is a righty, the passing lane
will be very close to the goalie. If the goalie positions him or
herself just outside the crease and is squared off to the
puckcarrier, the chances of a pass being made is slim because the
goalie is in the way. This frees up the goalie to concentrate solely
on the shot because the pass will have to go through him to reach
the right-handed teammate.

Reading which way the oncoming rush shoots and seeing where your
defensemen are in relation to the opponents will give you a pretty
accurate read as to the type of save you will be required to make in
a few moments. Now if you just sit back and wait for a shot without
processing that information, you won’t know who is likely to shoot
or where the safest place to direct a rebound is. Try reading rushes
at practice. Once you get the hang of reading the plays, it becomes
natural and you will be a much smarter and more effective goalie.

3. Short Attention Span Theater & Immediate Gratification

Our society is one of very short attention spans. If I can’t have it
now, then I don’t want it. Well, that may be a great philosophy when
it comes to an action movie, a video game or an MTV video where you
can have the world at your fingertips, but it is not an effective
philosophy when it comes to improving yourself. Patience and
persistence are the keys to goaltending success. If you could simply
flip a switch to make your catching glove better, I’m sure there
would be a run on those switches at the local pro shop. However,
since those switches don’t exist, you must be comfortable with
failing at a new technique until the muscle memory is changed. Very
rarely do I encounter a goalie who can make adjustments to their
techniques after only a practice or two. Many adjustments require
faith in the move. Until you can instinctively do the new move or
adjustment without thinking about it, you will not do that new move
all that well. The learning process may take weeks or months to run
its course.

If you decide that adding new moves to your game isn’t as important
as not looking bad while you learn them, then the game will pass you
by. Hockey and goaltending is always evolving and you must not be
afraid to learn new things. Everyone will look shaky during the
learning process, but once you have the perseverance to master the
new move, it will become an automatic part of your game where you
won’t have to think about it anymore. Creating new muscle memories
take time, but the satisfaction you will have over mastering new
moves will pay huge dividends. Always think big picture and realize
that goaltending is a marathon journey and not a sprint.

You can think long-term by looking at things you take for granted in
practice. During warm-ups, do you control rebounds or do you just
let them go everywhere? During the drills your team regularly does
at practice, do you react the same way every time? What new moves
could you bring to the drill to spice it up and to make your
teammates work harder to score? When the team does non-shot drills
like breakouts, do you give full attention to how you set the puck
or hand off the dump-ins? If you don’t take pride in those skills,
you are probably creating giveaways in games that result in prime
scoring opportunities for the opposition.

Pay attention to details. Have patience to learn new skills. Realize
that immediate gratification will not happen. Know that the
satisfaction of staying the course for long-term gain is very sweet.